A two-piece container of the type used in the beer and beverage industry consists of a unitary body and a can end. The unitary body is typically formed through a drawing and ironing process. The can end typically consists of an end shell that is converted into an easy open style end. After the can body is filled with a product the converted end is seamed onto the open end of the body. Two-piece cans are predominantly formed from aluminum sheet product and are the most common type of metal container employed by the beer and beverage industry. Of critical importance in the packaging industry is the desire to enhance the appearance of the container in order to achieve a heightened level of product differentiation and consumer acceptance.
Various attempts have been made to enhance the overall appearance of the two-piece drawn and ironed aluminum container. These attempts have been two pronged. On the one hand, various efforts have been made to increase the appearance of the decorated can through the use of additional colors in the graphic art applied on the can body. For example, the decoration of cans has gone from four colors to six colors and now presently to eight different colors that can be applied by a single can body decorator apparatus. On the other hand, efforts have been made to modify the appearance of the container itself by further forming the can body itself. For example, it is known to produce a fluted appearance in the side wall of a can body such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 283,011 and Des. 290,688. A method and apparatus for processing containers to produce the designs illustrated in the aforementioned patents is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,837, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth. However, when a can body having a fluted side is pressurized, the fluted appearance on the consumer side of the container is lessened and the overall fluted appearance of the container diminished. The full impact of the fluted side wall may not be realized until the beverage container is opened and internal pressure equalized with the ambient. Additionally, while the fluted features are applied in a predetermined physical pattern, the pattern itself does not have any congruous or predetermined relationship with respect to the graphics that have been applied previously to the can body. The fluted pattern and the existing graphics do not represent an integrated artistic whole that heightens the visual impact of the container. The application of the fluted features is random. Accordingly, there remains a long-standing goal in the industry to provide a method and an apparatus that will coordinate the application of such features as fluting with the container's art work. Likewise, it has been a goal in the industry to provide a method for enhancing the appearance of a can body, such that the can body retains the features even when the can's contents are maintained under pressure.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide both an apparatus and a method for the embossing of a can body side wall to enhance the appearance of the container wherein the embossing is applied in a predetermined manner that coordinates the embossing with the can's existing graphics or decoration.
It is also an object of the apparatus of this invention to provide a can body having features thereon that maintain their integrity even when the contents of the container are maintained under pressure.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an apparatus that can be readily integrated into a commercial can line to provide the selective and registered embossing of a decorated can body.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a can body that exhibits an enhanced appearance through the application of registered embossing to the decoration or graphic art previously applied to the can.